The detained men were taken to court at the palace of justice in Benidorm.
Photograph: Manuel Lorenzo/EPA

Five French tourists have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a 20-year-old Norwegian woman in the Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm, Spanish police have said.

Sexual violence has gained prominence as an issue in social and political campaigning in Spain in recent years, notably after five Spaniards calling themselves the “wolf pack” were accused of gang-raping a young woman at the San Fermín bull-running festival in 2016. Their initial light prison sentences sparked mass protests across the country.

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Police said the five French suspects, all male and aged between 18 and 19, were taken to court on Thursday, having spent the night in jail after their arrest in the early hours of Wednesday.

Court officials could not be reached for comment and it was not clear whether the suspects had entered pleas.

Police said they received a call on Wednesday from a local healthcare centre, where two 20-year-old Norwegian women, both living in Spain, had turned for help.

They said they met the French teenagers through social media and then in person in Benidorm, after which the group ended up in the apartment where the suspects were staying.

One of the women left the house after allegedly being sexually abused. It was after that that the woman who stayed behind was allegedly raped, police said.

The “wolf pack” case, which also attracted international attention in the context of the global #MeToo movement highlighting sexual abuse and mistreatment of women, went to a supreme court appeal in June.